Liberia: Letter to the Dead - Dear Great Ones

It will be counted against us, and even written in the annals of history, if we do not, as others have done, wish all you who have endeavored to make life worth living for your besieged brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, the good tides of the Yuletide, remaining you to remain strong in the face of the many greater dangers that lie ahead.

From the very depth and recess of our inner beings, we want to salute you as we reflect some of the thorny and troubling moments that marred our efforts toward greatness, as a nation and people.

We need not to remind ourselves as we come to the end of a long journey, but for the sake of the record, we are inclined to put a lid on some of the events that took our people off guide and made them naked before their very eyes and conscience.

Great ones, thank you very much for allowing us a space in your daily involvements, to listen to us through this medium, as we all find a true path that leads us to social, economic and political healthiness.

We say this with all the fibers of the strain of our veins that there is one single day amongst the million of days that elapsed and to come that we will rise from our beds, come out of our abodes in fervent jubilation for the dawn of a new Liberia, not a Liberia where people will seek the faces of juju men and women, prayer mothers and sand cutters to suppress others and become the only roasters. We are talking about a Liberia where the young ones will continue to be used as agents of destruction, as propellers of confusion and as igniters of witch-hunting and damnation of others' hard-earned characters.

For over 200 years, we blamed the state of the nation on the failure of others to do what the right things and we struggled so strongly to push their siblings aside, on ground that their being around can only fuel tension. Through the grace of God, we now find ourselves in the driver's seat but yet lack the willingness and commitment to do better than those we damned and vilified.

Great ones, be reminded that during the course of the year, we celebrated the birth of a new period of economic growth characterized by the leap in the national budget, but what is clear is that 80 percent of the money used comes from the international and other donors while our own money goes in the pockets of so-called "policy makers."

We are sorry to tell you that the year has come to end with so much to talk about, about the behavior of the government the people gave power to them out of poverty and shame. Do not be surprised to learn that the "little guys who are fresh from colleges and appointed to positions of trust are totting everything on their heads, putting enjoyment first ahead of doing the work before them.

In fact, some of them do not sit in office, but rather go from club to club, from Hatai shop to Hatai shop, trying to impress upon the minds of their colleagues of what they are not. They are some who are using their positions to bad-mouth other Liberians who disagree with the administration's way of running the affairs of the country. There is no longer maturity in the business of government as the young ones who are given opportunities see nothing but fun and fine time.

Well, the year is no longer with us but some of the events that occurred continue to pierce our hearts and break our defenses because no one seems to understand why the country is somewhat retrogressing, instead of progressing. This is to say that some of the things we should not be talking about because they do not measure to the pressing needs are those we still talk and concern about.

We are still talking fixing roads that we should not be concerned about. For example, the people spent million of dollars to fix few roads across the city, but in less than a year, they are re-doing the very roads, spending additional resources that should be directed to other projects.

If you are not getting something good from us means that we are tired with saying the same thing over and over because Liberians do not want to change from being bad people to good people who want to see their nation move in positive direction, as other nations are doing. We do not have anything call system, and that's one of the things that is suffering the nation. Well, we want to stop here and allow you to rest.

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